Aortic Valve Replacement With TAVI Procedure
Aortic valve stenosis is usually seen at elderly people. This problem is seen at 30% of women while it is 70% for men. Open heart surgery (OHS) may causes serious lung and kidney failure problems for elderly people. Also, it is not preferred because it should negatively affect postoperative recovery time and the time of return to normal life. That is why for older patients, invasive aortic valve replacement , as medically known as TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation), also called TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) has to be primarily considered.
TAVI is an intervention that is reached to the aortic valve with a transfemoral catheter used, enlarge the area of stenosis and replace the valve. This intervention is highly preferred on patients after 80, who were too weak and old to carry on open-heart surgery.
How TAVI is applied in 6 quick steps
- Patient is taken to the cat-lab (catheter laboratory) and monitories
- Anesthesia experts evaluate the patient and decide on the appropriate type of anesthesia or sedation.
- After anesthesia, cardiology physician use to the invasive procedure for going to reach to aortic valve of the heart with a catheter from the femoral artery.
- After navigation to the right place where the valve has to be replaced, the artificial heart valve is deployed in place by the aid of a large stent.
- Before terminating the procedure, angiography ECG is used to check whether the new valve is functioning properly.
- Vascular closure and suturing are applied to the access area.
Take the advantage of TAVI – Quick recovery time
Thr entire operation takes approximately 2 hours. After the operation patient stays in coronary intensive care unit overnight as a precaution. In most cases, the patient stays in the clinic for 3 more days and discharges. Usually it takes a week to get back normal life after TAVI prosedure.